List of Mental Illnesses

Fetishistic Disorder

The paraphiliac focus in fetishistic disorder (formerly known as fetishism) involves the eroticization of nonliving objects and/or body parts for sexual gratification. Among the more common non-living fetish objects are women’s underpants, bras, stockings, shoes, boots, or other wearing apparel. An individual with a fetish for a body part (e.g., feet, hair) will eroticize a non-genital body part during sexual encounter. It is not uncommon for sexualized fetishes to include both inanimate objects and body parts (e.g., dirty socks with feet). Fetishistic disorder can be a multisensory experience, including holding, tasting, rubbing, inserting, or smelling the fetish object while masturbating, or preferring that a sexual partner wear or utilize a fetish object during sexual encounters. In the treatment-seeking samples observed, this disorder occurs almost exclusively in males; women generally do not exhibit this disorder, and more information is needed to determine whether this disorder occurs to any significant degree within the female sex.

The person with fetishism frequently masturbates while holding, rubbing, or smelling the fetish object or may ask the sexual partner to wear the object during their sexual encounters. Usually the fetish is required or strongly preferred for sexual excitement, and in its absence there may be erectile dysfunction in males.